Mikhail Gorbachev: Reforms and the End of the Cold War

Mikhail Gorbachev

In the late 1980s, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev implemented a series of changes in his country's social, economic, and foreign policies designed to improve the standard of living and enter a new era with the United States. The cumulative effect of his "new thinking" was to end the Cold War, the breakdown of the Soviet Empire, and the Soviet Union itself.

Mikhail Gorbachev became head of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1985.

Economic Challenges and Reforms

The Soviet economy in the mid-1980s faced serious challenges. Years of centralized controls had led to stagnation, and the Soviet economy was already straining to compete with the military buildup in the United States led by President Ronald Reagan. In response, at the Twenty-Seventh Party Congress in 1986, Gorbachev made two proposals:

• Perestroika: A complete restructuring of the economy.
• Glasnost: Openness.

Gorbachev and Reagan: A Path to Peace

In November 1985, Gorbachev and Reagan met in Geneva, Switzerland. They discussed increases in trade, cultural exchanges, human rights, the Iran-Iraq War, the Soviet conflict in Afghanistan, and other regional conflicts. At a follow-up meeting, Gorbachev surprised Reagan with a proposal for massive cuts in the nuclear forces of each country, hoping the United States would abandon its Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI). Reagan's continuing commitment to SDI prevented an agreement between the Soviet Union and the United States in 1986.

Arms Agreements and the End of the Cold War

The Soviet Union needed the costly Cold War to slow down. Gorbachev, therefore, continued to press for arms agreements. In 1987, the United States and the Soviet Union reached an agreement on Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces. The two nations embarked on the Strategic Arms Reduction Talks, signing the first agreement in 1991. Moreover, Gorbachev oversaw the Soviet withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan and Angola and withdrew Soviet support for the Sandinistas in Nicaragua and the communist governments in Cuba and Vietnam. He also negated the Brezhnev Doctrine, choosing instead to loosen Soviet control over the countries of the Eastern Bloc and allow them some freedom in navigating their own futures.

The Collapse of the Soviet Union

Although Reagan welcomed new overtures from the Soviet Union for peace and cooperation, he continued to build up U.S. defenses. The relaxation in the arms race helped pursue peaceful cooperation and helped Gorbachev pursue more liberal policies toward Eastern Europe. Reagan's successor, President George Herbert Walker Bush, stayed out of it; he did not go to Eastern Europe to revel in the Soviet defeat. Although the many reforms that stemmed from Gorbachev's "new thinking" were designed to save the Soviet Union, they ultimately brought about its collapse. As a result, these reforms played a fundamental role in bringing about the end of the Cold War.